United States Ninth Circuit

Defendant's sentence for filing false tax returns is vacated where the district court failed to adequately explain the grounds for the sentence because: 1) the record was not clear that defendant's incarceration would harm his father's business; 2) the district court understated the severity of the offense; and 3) the district court improperly relied on prompt satisfaction of a substantial monetary sanction to impose a non-custodial sentence.

Appellate Information

• Argued 02/09/2009
• Decided 09/23/2009
• Published 09/23/2009

Judges

• Before: JOHN T. NOONAN, MARSHA S. BERZON and N. RANDY SMITH, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Mark Determan, Washington, D.C., for the plaintiff-appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• Anthony E. Colombo, San Diego, CA, for the defendant-appellee.